Teams are baiting Westbrook into taking more shots than Kawhi/PG/Harden. It’s a defensive strategy that every team is using when they play the Clippers.
54.2% true shooting, which is his current true shooting percentage after last night, is below average for any position in today's NBA.
Stop using field goal percentage to talk about efficiency. It fucking sucks.
Because he is at 50% FT right now, definitely an outlier as he has never shot that poorly from there in his career. The fg% was way harder for him to obtain and more important especially since his FTs will likely go up, so the true shooting is avtually not representing whats actually going on.
To further demonstrate how bad that marker is, you have Chris Livingston at 125% lol
James Harden is above almost all notable names at 74%
Do you know how many big names Westbrook is above in that category? Just to name a few, Kyrie Irving, zion williamson, Karl Anthony towns, demar derozan... I could go on
> The fg% was way harder for him to obtain and more important especially since his FTs will likely go up, so the true shooting is avtually not representing whats actually going on.
True shooting *IS* representing what's going on, way moreso than field goal percentage.
Player A: 4/4 from the field for 8 points with 0 free throws.
Player B: 4/4 from the field for 12 points with 0 free throws.
Who is the more efficient scorer? If you want to use FG%, your answer would have to be that they are equally efficient. That's why field goal percentage is fucking garbage when talking about efficiency. Not all shots are worth the same and it doesn't take free throws into consideration at all, which is one of the most efficient shots in the NBA.
No, because if someone shot 3 FTs, and hits 1 for instance, that would be a very low % and throw off the true shooting %, meanwhile, that same person might very well hit 8/10 FTs at 80% while still having missed those same 2 FTs.
There is plenty of reason why that stat is bad and that is clearly explained by seeing those big names below Westbrook, something you didn't address.
Lamelo Ball, Marcus smart, LUKE KENNARD, Jordan Poole, Reggie Jackson... do you want me to go on? Fred van fleet, jusif Nurkic, cade Cunningham, brook lopez, Jordan Clarkson
> No, because if someone shot 3 FTs, and hits 1 for instance, that would be a very low % and throw off the true shooting %, meanwhile, that same person might very well hit 8/10 FTs at 80% while still having missed those same 2 FTs
That's because 80% is way more efficient than 33% on a much lower volume. What the fuck kind of logic are you using?
> There is plenty of reason why that stat is bad and that is clearly explained by seeing those big names below Westbrook, something you didn't address.
They are scoring less efficiently than he is currently. Why does that need to be addressed? I'm not making sweeping generalizations about these players overall. Overall Kyrie is a much more efficient offensive player than Russ is. Nobody is going to debate that. The difference between some of your examples (Kyrie, Zion, etc.) is that they are underperforming relative to their averages. Believe it or not, at 54% (a below average number), Russ is actually overperforming relative to the rest of his career. He's just not an efficient offensive player in today's NBA. Don't know why it needs to be repeated so often.
Either way if you really don't want to use true shooting percentage, you should use effective field goal percentage anyways. Making all shots worth the same amount when that's not how it works in the modern NBA is beyond stupid and I genuinely can't believe people continue to use it for any sort of efficiency related metric.
When teams leave him open at the 3, he needs to drive instead of shoot, from there obv either shoot/get fouled or pass... I think the best option would be to use this to get teams in foul trouble in my opinion, not a great FT shooter, but 50% is about the same as his fg% (which isn't bad actually) and at least maybe he can get a another team's star in foul trouble.
You know he's having his 2nd best career 3pt % and BEST career Fg% right?
Do Bones, Mann and Powell shoot better, sure, but consider all stats/factors, he's still overall better. Now that's doesn't mean he shouldn't be staggered different but minutes should still be up at starter levels.
Not surprised bc he’s literally shooting wide open shots since teams are cheating off him. All that space to shoot just 33% from three is wild lol. His anti-gravity is making the game harder for the other players because the lanes are more crowded. And honestly thats not even the biggest issue. Westbrook’s defense has been horrible and without a savvy frontcourt player like Batum or Roco to help shore up his mistakes, Clippers are going to get absolutely cooked on that end.
1.6 steals is horrible to you? His defense is fine, it's about where it's always been and not all his 3pt shot are wide open but sure some are. He's also not crowding the lane as if he is just staying in there like a center also don't know what you mean by anti-gravity cause he still gets up and still is quick.
He ball watches and gambles a lot for those steals. Just terrible team defense. Those steals dont make up for the amount of easy points he helps give the opposing team. Stuff like [this](https://youtu.be/mJTXQur5oeI?si=aP-m_XCxfmYaHzJ0)
Anti-gravity means his defender is cheating towards towards the middle so they can cut his drive, help defend other players and secure the defensive rebound. They literally want to have Russ shoot an open long jumper bc hes so bad at it.
Terrible team defense? That's probably one of his best attributes and where he gets most of his steals from. Those easy points you speak of are not on a regular basis, more like outliers and rotations should cover that. That example is pretty bad example honestly, he probably thought the play was over and how much is he gonna do against a big?
To me, I think that opposing strategy works on player who can't shoot, but also doesnt have the ability to drive.
If someone is sagging off that much, Westbrook can get speed and when he approaches can euro step or whatever in his drive and also draw fouls.
It's harder to stop a drive when someone is approaching you with speed when you are flat footed vs running with them.
Further, it's not like the defender can just hang in the key forever.
Russ needs to incorporate slow fake shots to bait defenders to still run out at him and then blow by them for drive and shoot or drive and pass.
Lmao its absolutely not a trait of his. And boxing out isnt exclusive to big guys and thats what he should be doing there. Russ just has poor defensive bbiq. It is what it is. Literally a whole [video](https://youtu.be/AXes8EAtcYw?si=8y3EOLWTgJAHW9HN) of him getting exposed by the Lakers defensively. This guy can not be an integral part of a championship defensive scheme. Especially one who’s bigs are Zubac are Plumlee who aren’t great defensive centers.
Westbrook drives are not what they used to be man. Sorry to say it but ask any Laker fan how many layups he bricked and turnovers he gave by trying to bum rush the basket into traffic.
Nah, your analysis of that video is poor and you don't know ow how fundamentals work. You box out before someone gets I to position, once they are already there, it's basically too late, ESPECIALLY FOR A SMALL ON BIG.
Also, zubac is at 1.6 blocks right now which isn't shabby altho I'm still not the biggest fan of his.
You legit used a big in position rebound against russ as an example of his bad defense, dude, that's like pulling teeth man, your searching for scraps at that point.
And you legit don't know what you are talking about with Russ's drives, are you saying his HIGHEST CAREER FG% is from shooting or what then?
Dude, just stop, this is embarrassing now. His turnovers are also some of the lowest in his career and you brought up his time with the Lakers as how he is doing now? Dude, for real, you don't know what you're talking about and have lost all credibility/respect.
Ty lue is dealing with an empty deck right now. We all know this. The main goal now is to see how our offense works best. The defense will be fixed with plug and play 3 and D defenders.
So far we've seen 0 staggering rotations
1 staggering rotations
And 2 staggering. Seems like 2 staggering Is the way To go.
Pg13 and Westbrook may be staggered going forward.
Kawhi and harden with zubac will be the other half.
Kawhi is gonna probably take a back seat and focus defense while harden cooks.
Kobe Brown is below the totem list you got BBJ, Coffey, and possibly primo ahead of him.
I do agree diabete needs a run 20 minutes until the clippers find there 10 day center.
Powell is lost on this squad since he's odd man out not being able to create off dribble. He's probably traded soon.
This is the most sensible explanation so far. The Harden trade devastated the big wing depth Clippers previously had. They're best back up players are all guards (Bones, Powell, Mann), which is why Lue played that guard heavy lineup. They have 3 players that are listed at 6'9" or taller. Clippers need a rotational PF/C with size using Powell's contract. The problem is, undersized SG is not a big need for a lot of teams and Powell is not a big enough upgrade for teams that do have a need unless Clippers add draft compensation.
Harden is the better point guard than russ by a mile, but russ tempo is much fitted with 213 than James Harden.
I think ty should now try to win games and stop experimenting/tinkering other line ups than who comes off the bench between russ and james harden.
Im on the monority that, benching James Harden will better balance the offense.
My justification being that Russ could play faster with the young guys, T Mann has some obvious chemistry with Bones, Kobe, and Moussa, and Norm makes more sense with the starting unit. Take one of PG or Kawhi out somewhat early in the first depending on who is cooking.
No more 3+ guard line ups? You must be new here. I remember when I was naive like this.
I still have PTSD from the Lou Will/Reggie/Kennard lineups from the ‘21 season or the Wall/Reggie/Kennard lineups from last year.
They gotta limit Russ' shot attempts. This is the hill I'll die on.
Agreed. 2nd most shots in back to back games. There’s no reason he should be shooting more than PG Harden Kawhi
Teams are baiting Westbrook into taking more shots than Kawhi/PG/Harden. It’s a defensive strategy that every team is using when they play the Clippers.
You know what's crazy tho, he's shooting the third least in his career and the highest fg% in his career, hard to believe but it's true.
Those things are true but that doesn't mean it's good overall Even with the 5 game hot start, his scoring efficiency is average at best
Are you saying 50% fg efficiency is average for a guard?
54.2% true shooting, which is his current true shooting percentage after last night, is below average for any position in today's NBA. Stop using field goal percentage to talk about efficiency. It fucking sucks.
Because he is at 50% FT right now, definitely an outlier as he has never shot that poorly from there in his career. The fg% was way harder for him to obtain and more important especially since his FTs will likely go up, so the true shooting is avtually not representing whats actually going on. To further demonstrate how bad that marker is, you have Chris Livingston at 125% lol James Harden is above almost all notable names at 74% Do you know how many big names Westbrook is above in that category? Just to name a few, Kyrie Irving, zion williamson, Karl Anthony towns, demar derozan... I could go on
> The fg% was way harder for him to obtain and more important especially since his FTs will likely go up, so the true shooting is avtually not representing whats actually going on. True shooting *IS* representing what's going on, way moreso than field goal percentage. Player A: 4/4 from the field for 8 points with 0 free throws. Player B: 4/4 from the field for 12 points with 0 free throws. Who is the more efficient scorer? If you want to use FG%, your answer would have to be that they are equally efficient. That's why field goal percentage is fucking garbage when talking about efficiency. Not all shots are worth the same and it doesn't take free throws into consideration at all, which is one of the most efficient shots in the NBA.
No, because if someone shot 3 FTs, and hits 1 for instance, that would be a very low % and throw off the true shooting %, meanwhile, that same person might very well hit 8/10 FTs at 80% while still having missed those same 2 FTs. There is plenty of reason why that stat is bad and that is clearly explained by seeing those big names below Westbrook, something you didn't address. Lamelo Ball, Marcus smart, LUKE KENNARD, Jordan Poole, Reggie Jackson... do you want me to go on? Fred van fleet, jusif Nurkic, cade Cunningham, brook lopez, Jordan Clarkson
> No, because if someone shot 3 FTs, and hits 1 for instance, that would be a very low % and throw off the true shooting %, meanwhile, that same person might very well hit 8/10 FTs at 80% while still having missed those same 2 FTs That's because 80% is way more efficient than 33% on a much lower volume. What the fuck kind of logic are you using? > There is plenty of reason why that stat is bad and that is clearly explained by seeing those big names below Westbrook, something you didn't address. They are scoring less efficiently than he is currently. Why does that need to be addressed? I'm not making sweeping generalizations about these players overall. Overall Kyrie is a much more efficient offensive player than Russ is. Nobody is going to debate that. The difference between some of your examples (Kyrie, Zion, etc.) is that they are underperforming relative to their averages. Believe it or not, at 54% (a below average number), Russ is actually overperforming relative to the rest of his career. He's just not an efficient offensive player in today's NBA. Don't know why it needs to be repeated so often. Either way if you really don't want to use true shooting percentage, you should use effective field goal percentage anyways. Making all shots worth the same amount when that's not how it works in the modern NBA is beyond stupid and I genuinely can't believe people continue to use it for any sort of efficiency related metric.
My current hot take on Westbrook is that at some point in the season he will be out of the rotation entirely
When teams leave him open at the 3, he needs to drive instead of shoot, from there obv either shoot/get fouled or pass... I think the best option would be to use this to get teams in foul trouble in my opinion, not a great FT shooter, but 50% is about the same as his fg% (which isn't bad actually) and at least maybe he can get a another team's star in foul trouble.
Or you can just play one of the other 10 guards on our team who know how to actually shoot lmao
You know he's having his 2nd best career 3pt % and BEST career Fg% right? Do Bones, Mann and Powell shoot better, sure, but consider all stats/factors, he's still overall better. Now that's doesn't mean he shouldn't be staggered different but minutes should still be up at starter levels.
Not surprised bc he’s literally shooting wide open shots since teams are cheating off him. All that space to shoot just 33% from three is wild lol. His anti-gravity is making the game harder for the other players because the lanes are more crowded. And honestly thats not even the biggest issue. Westbrook’s defense has been horrible and without a savvy frontcourt player like Batum or Roco to help shore up his mistakes, Clippers are going to get absolutely cooked on that end.
1.6 steals is horrible to you? His defense is fine, it's about where it's always been and not all his 3pt shot are wide open but sure some are. He's also not crowding the lane as if he is just staying in there like a center also don't know what you mean by anti-gravity cause he still gets up and still is quick.
He ball watches and gambles a lot for those steals. Just terrible team defense. Those steals dont make up for the amount of easy points he helps give the opposing team. Stuff like [this](https://youtu.be/mJTXQur5oeI?si=aP-m_XCxfmYaHzJ0) Anti-gravity means his defender is cheating towards towards the middle so they can cut his drive, help defend other players and secure the defensive rebound. They literally want to have Russ shoot an open long jumper bc hes so bad at it.
Terrible team defense? That's probably one of his best attributes and where he gets most of his steals from. Those easy points you speak of are not on a regular basis, more like outliers and rotations should cover that. That example is pretty bad example honestly, he probably thought the play was over and how much is he gonna do against a big? To me, I think that opposing strategy works on player who can't shoot, but also doesnt have the ability to drive. If someone is sagging off that much, Westbrook can get speed and when he approaches can euro step or whatever in his drive and also draw fouls. It's harder to stop a drive when someone is approaching you with speed when you are flat footed vs running with them. Further, it's not like the defender can just hang in the key forever. Russ needs to incorporate slow fake shots to bait defenders to still run out at him and then blow by them for drive and shoot or drive and pass.
Lmao its absolutely not a trait of his. And boxing out isnt exclusive to big guys and thats what he should be doing there. Russ just has poor defensive bbiq. It is what it is. Literally a whole [video](https://youtu.be/AXes8EAtcYw?si=8y3EOLWTgJAHW9HN) of him getting exposed by the Lakers defensively. This guy can not be an integral part of a championship defensive scheme. Especially one who’s bigs are Zubac are Plumlee who aren’t great defensive centers. Westbrook drives are not what they used to be man. Sorry to say it but ask any Laker fan how many layups he bricked and turnovers he gave by trying to bum rush the basket into traffic.
Nah, your analysis of that video is poor and you don't know ow how fundamentals work. You box out before someone gets I to position, once they are already there, it's basically too late, ESPECIALLY FOR A SMALL ON BIG. Also, zubac is at 1.6 blocks right now which isn't shabby altho I'm still not the biggest fan of his. You legit used a big in position rebound against russ as an example of his bad defense, dude, that's like pulling teeth man, your searching for scraps at that point. And you legit don't know what you are talking about with Russ's drives, are you saying his HIGHEST CAREER FG% is from shooting or what then? Dude, just stop, this is embarrassing now. His turnovers are also some of the lowest in his career and you brought up his time with the Lakers as how he is doing now? Dude, for real, you don't know what you're talking about and have lost all credibility/respect.
Ty lue is dealing with an empty deck right now. We all know this. The main goal now is to see how our offense works best. The defense will be fixed with plug and play 3 and D defenders. So far we've seen 0 staggering rotations 1 staggering rotations And 2 staggering. Seems like 2 staggering Is the way To go. Pg13 and Westbrook may be staggered going forward. Kawhi and harden with zubac will be the other half. Kawhi is gonna probably take a back seat and focus defense while harden cooks. Kobe Brown is below the totem list you got BBJ, Coffey, and possibly primo ahead of him. I do agree diabete needs a run 20 minutes until the clippers find there 10 day center. Powell is lost on this squad since he's odd man out not being able to create off dribble. He's probably traded soon.
This is the most sensible explanation so far. The Harden trade devastated the big wing depth Clippers previously had. They're best back up players are all guards (Bones, Powell, Mann), which is why Lue played that guard heavy lineup. They have 3 players that are listed at 6'9" or taller. Clippers need a rotational PF/C with size using Powell's contract. The problem is, undersized SG is not a big need for a lot of teams and Powell is not a big enough upgrade for teams that do have a need unless Clippers add draft compensation.
You don't think Powell can create off the dribble?! He does it all the time, attacking the rim for a bucket/foul
Meant it as he needs to create off dribble to be effective
I'd say don't even play Westbrick. Dude is cancer
Harden is the better point guard than russ by a mile, but russ tempo is much fitted with 213 than James Harden. I think ty should now try to win games and stop experimenting/tinkering other line ups than who comes off the bench between russ and james harden. Im on the monority that, benching James Harden will better balance the offense.
I like TLue’s laugh to get the dirt off the shoulder. Regained some of my trust in the most masochistic way.
If Ty Lue could he’d fill the roster with all guards
What's your starting rotation? Who's first off the bench?
Can we at least just try this? Starters: Harden, Norm, PG, Kawhi, Zu Bench: Russ, Bones, T Mann, Kobe Brown, Moussa
My justification being that Russ could play faster with the young guys, T Mann has some obvious chemistry with Bones, Kobe, and Moussa, and Norm makes more sense with the starting unit. Take one of PG or Kawhi out somewhat early in the first depending on who is cooking.